Hey Team!
So to all my followers eagerly anticipating my next post, I apologize for the wait. August was not a very biology-y month for me, so other than preparing for Florida (where I am sitting right now), there wasn't much for me to say. But with my internship starting in a few days (I should probably figure out how I'm going to eat...) the posts should be almost endless!
But that isn't the subject of this post. The subject, if you didn't guess from the most excellent clue in the title, is money. Specifically, how the hell am I supposed to get some.
This is another thing I was I was told back in high school about becoming a scientist. Getting your second degree is nothing like getting your first. Your bachelors is basically handed to you, all you need to do is: apply to a university, get accepted, work your ass off, and POOF! degree!
Masters: Work your ass off in your bachelors, write an Honours thesis, gain work experience, apply for grants/scholarships, get grants/scholarships, apply to supervisor, get accepted by supervisor, apply to university, get accepted to university, work your ass off, write thesis, and POOF! degree.
Sounds like a blast and a half, no?
This is not me complaining, I am more than excited to do all of it. It's just a very intimidating process. The most intimidating part though is the grant application process.
See, research costs a lot. It costs even more then you are working with giant animals that live under water where no one can see them. And most profs, even the ones who work with marine mammals, don't have thousands of dollars to fund yet another project, so they insist that students bring their own money into the mix. Especially if they want food and shelter for the next two years.
So that's where I stand. I am in the race of my life competing with other (probably more) qualified students for money to help jump start our futures and careers. And as much as I impressed my family with my grades and accomplishments, in the research arena I am a so-so candidate, and there are many more impressive people worthy of money (more on them later...).
Once I am totally settled in, I'll have to start worrying about all that. It's going to be a lot of applications, and a lot of rejections. I'm glad I went through I lot of that with my job search, I ordered a pretty think skin for that.
Enough complaining Gaby! The point of this was to help other marine biologists, not to be a whiny baby!!
So here is where to look for money to help fund research. Disclaimer: My grad student friends had to help me with this, because I had no idea where to go.
-- NSERC - one of the hardest grants to get, but therefore the most prestigious. Only the best grades, most work experience and most publications get these grants. So seriously (seriously) work hard, and make yourself into the best applicant for this grant
-- University grad scholarships - most universities have grants specifically for their grad students, so look into these. But remember, they are open to EVERY grad student in the school, so competition is high.
-- Society scholarships - If you belong to a biology-related society (which you should.... a few even), they might have research scholarships for members and even specifically students. The applicant pool is much smaller for these, so you have a better chance of getting one.
--Online resources - there are websites (like www.studentawards.com) that help you by listing all the scholarships you might be eligible for. Although the name of the scholarship can be important at times (see NSERC), it's the money in your hands that is the finish line. So apply to even the most obscure scholarships, because you're not going to care who's memorial scholarship it is when you have a couple grand to buy groceries with.
I'll be starting my own money making process soon. Hopefully I get something from someone so that I can make my Master's student dream into a reality.
Speak Loud!
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